Jan 15, 2014

This easy baked pasta dish is made with whole wheat elbows, ground turkey, veggies, marinara sauce and cheese. I can't say enough good things about this casserole! It's comforting, kid-friendly and so easy to make because there's no need to pre-cook the pasta!

I come from the school of having to cook your pasta in plenty of water, so when someone kindly shared this recipe with me, I won't lie, I was skeptical! But I loved the outcome, and since then I've made it a few times over tweaking it to my taste and we love it!

And the whole wheat elbows from DeLallo - I'm so impressed with their taste! In fact, I like their pasta so much that I am partnering up with them this year as a brand sponsor. If you've been following me for a while you'll know that my family and I don't like the taste of whole wheat pasta. But that completely changed when I tried DeLallo, and my kids and husband liked it too!

I used whole milk mozzarella on top because the points didn't change by using reduced fat, and I love my cheese melted and gooey, but you can use whichever you prefer.

This looks great! It also works with Weight Watcher's new Simple Start program -- as long as you use fat free mozzarella and store bought marina that's under 2g of fat! I'm definitely making it this week.

This looks yummy! My hubby is on a low fat, low carb diet right now and I think this would be a great splurge for him. I'm gluten free (yes, cooking for the two of us is challenging!) and I've found GF pasta doesn't work well in one pot type dishes because it's often too starchy. I'm sure it could be altered to cook the pasta separately, then add to the casserole cooked by omitting the extra water. Should I cut back a bit on the marinara too?

The GF rice pasta is sticky and gluey and horrid. You MUST try corn pasta. It's GF, has great body and texture (almost better than regular pasta if you ask me) and has the added bonus of a wonderful nutty (corny?) taste.It's available at more and more regular food markets... no need to go to a fancy one, at least not up here in Canda.Give it a shot.. I think you'll be thrilled.

I made this using barilla gluten free pasta. I didn't precook the pasta, and it took about 55 minutes in the oven. I really like the barilla because it's a corn blend. The noodles don't turn to mush like when I use brown rice noodles

Ditto. I used barrilla GF penne, baked for 55 mins, and then broiled for 2 mins. Delicious! PLEASE, I'm vegetarian and my hubby is GF. His whole side of the family has allergies (all different). We get by fine - it's much healthier and more creative!

Is there something about the DeLallo pasta that makes it work with this recipe or might another pasta be substituted? I guess what I'm asking is does the DeLallo pasta absorb less liquid? I've been using Dreamfields as I have gestational diabetes. This looks fabulous by the way!

Any pasta would work, but since I am trying to eat more whole wheat pasta, I wouldn't use anything other than DeLallo. One thing to keep in mind, Dreamfields is only "low net carb" if it cooks the exact time on the package, any longer and it's no longer low net carb. I think you can google more info on that.

Gina works hard to make these recipes. She has the cost of buying her ingredients. Sometimes things fail or aren't what she feels were good enough the first time around to share and she tweaks the recipes. She is also taking care of a family. She disclosed that she was being compensated. What more can you ask for? If you don't like the fact that she is being compensated then don't use her recipes and don't visit this site. I'm sure all the cooking shows, some cook books, etc. are endorsed (pay for the use of their ingredients) and you pay for these! Whether is through cable or buying a cook book. Thank you for all your hard work Gina. It helps me eat healthy and my BF loves all the new recipes! I don't have to repeat all the same boring dishes I was making before.

I'm sure it is nice to be compensated. Of course, I'm guessing that involves spending hours tweaking, testing, photographing, etc. We see the beautiful finished product and Gina doesn't bore us with the details of getting to that product. Thank you for your hard work Gina, and I hope you do get compensated well, as I gather that blogging could be a rather large undertaking to do as volunteer work.

I also was wondering about the gluten free option-if you used rice pasta, shouldn't you cook it first? I've noticed the rice pasta has a bit of a film that I usually rinse off. Otherwise, this sounds yum!!

I have been a fan of DeLallo whole wheat pasta for a long time and I'm very pleased that they're sponsoring you...it makes me love DeLallo even more! DeLallo has a wonderful nutty flavor and the texture is spot on. Can't wait to try this recipe. Thank you!!

This looks great - and I'm planning on doing a marathon cooking weekend to stock me freezer and this just got added to the list- but did you do something to change the way recipes print? I went to the Printer Friendly version but it didn't let me shorten or remove pictures or anything like I used to. I just accidentally printed up all the comments and everything!

I did - and it's always worked for me before - but for some reason today it didn't. I haven't changed computers or printers or anything either - that's why I thought it might be on your end. Maybe I'll try emailing it?

To make my prints of most of these recipes I copy/paste the text into a Word document a section at a time. I 'save' pics to a working folder, edit with Paint.net mostly to resize the pics to keep my own prints a manageable size, tweak text & titles in Word (Make titles/headings larger and bold; reduce some sections to single spacing; etc.). I can then copy/paste the pics to the Word document with pics that otherwise won't copy. Usually when I am done the Word version of the recipe will print on front & back of a single sheet of paper complete with selected comments. Sometimes I have two sheets of paper, 4 pages, and use clear package sealing tape to hinge/bind them together before punching the holes for my loose-leaf binders. I end with a hard copy and a copy in my 'Documents' 'Recipe' folder. I cook from a hard copy either printed from the Documents file or copied from the binder print. The working copy(s) often get messy.

Sorry if this is a stupid question but I am new to trying to freeze meals! Do you freeze it prior to baking...or bake it and freeze? And then what do you do when you're ready to eat it - best way to defrost it, etc?? Thanks for any advice!

I would freeze this after its baked. A few ways to do this, but freeze it in freezer friendly containers. The you can reheat it frozen in an oven set 350F until hot, maybe 30 minutes? Or you can thaw in fridge overnight and microwave it.

Sorry if this is a stupid question, lol If I use regular (not wheat) macaroni, do I still put it in uncooked? I'm not sure if there's anything different with what's in it. Wheat products do icky stuff to me. Thanx!

This was dee-licious! I used rice pasta because my husband is wheat-intolerant. To get rid of the starchy residue I parboiled it for 3 min and rinsed it thoroughly with cold water. It turned out perfect. The family loved it and it was only 8 pp!

I made this for dinner last night and it was FABULOUS!!! So flavorful and the potion was perfect to fill me up. Can't wait to have leftovers for lunch today! Thanks so much for all the hard work you put into these fabulous recipes!

This looks delicious, but I don't have an hour to bake it once I get home from work. :-( Other than cooking the recipe all the way through and reheating, do you have any suggestions for doing this as a make-ahead for a quick weeknight meal?

Not Gina obviously, but I think if you pre-cooked the pasta, the turkey and the "sauce" (marinara plus veggies), and then kept it in the fridge, you could just assemble all the cooked parts, top with cheese, and put in the oven...basically would only need time to heat it through and melt all the cheese... maybe 20-30 minutes?

I didn't have a can of diced tomatoes but I did have a can of diced tomatoes roasted with chills (Rotell or Trader Joe's) and it was fantastic! It's so easy, so delicious. By the way, I didn't read directions carefully and used the entire package of ground turkey - 20 oz AND it was 97%lean and it was still fantastic.

I made this recipe today. WONDERFUL! Can't wait to have the leftovers tomorrow. I did use 4 cups of spaghetti squash and omitted the water as you suggested - and it was truly very good. I opted for the low fat mozzarella (6 oz) and fat free (2 oz) ... and while it was good, definitely not as good as the regular mozzarella. Just doesn't have the same creamy, gooey texture. However, I wasn't willing to forgo the extra weight watchers points. :) Thank you again, for the recipe and for the assistance on swapping spaghetti squash for the elbow macaroni.

I made this the other night with a few modifications - I used ground beef instead because I had some that I needed to use; I added more veggies because who DOESN'T need more veggies; I cooked it from start to finish in a Dutch oven. It was a great big hit! My 2YO ate TWO plate fulls when I first made it, and then when we had it as dinner last night, she looked at the container and said, "Nummy nummy!" She even ate some of it cold.

Excellent dish and would definitely make again for a delicious weekend meal.

This looks delicious! I will definitely be making it this week! Have you ever tried pasta from Fiber Gourmet? I use it all the time. Because it has so much fiber, it lowers the calorie count. So a 2 oz. serving is only 120 calories instead of 200 or 240. No difference in taste whatsoever.

I have this on the stove simmering as I type this. I had meant to halve the recipe, but completely forgot. I also only have half the called for macaroni. Hopefully half the mixture freezes well. It smells great!

I made this using one cup of regular marinara sauce and one cup of fra diavolo sauce. It gave the dish some extra flavor. We just loved it and will definitely make it again. Thank you for all of your great recipes!

I made this for dinner tonight and changed the 8 ounces of macaroni for 8 ounces of whole wheat medium shells (around 3 cups dry pasta), cause that's what I had in the pantry. Thank heavens Barilla has this cool site for all sizes of pasta to swap out sizes easily: http://www.barilla.com/faq?p=measuring.

I added a pinch of crush red pepper flakes and 2 garlic cloves just cause that is what I normally add to pasta sauces. When hubby came in from work, first thing he said was, "WOW....dinner smells great!" This recipe is so yummy, and I LOVE the fact I didn't have to cook the pasta! I baked this 55 minutes and let it sit while I made some multi-grain bread for him to dip. He ate 2 big bowls, and said this is definitely a keeper!

I am on WW and he is not, so it's awesome to find meals that he doesn't even realize are WW friendly! Keep up the good (and healthy) work! So far, when I need a recipe for dinner, this is the first place I start to hunt for ideas!!!!

I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious. I used the liquid I drained off the tomatoes as part of my water. My husband loved it, too. Next time, I'll add a little garlic and red pepper flakes for some extra spice.

This recipe is delicious! My husband loved it and my 2-year old enjoyed it as well, minus the mushrooms :)I used Barilla whole wheat elbows and they came out great. We ate this two nights in a row, second night was even better than the first!My only criticism, as others mentioned, is that I felt it needed a bit more spice. Red pepper flakes make an excellent addition along with a little extra salt and pepper. I also like the idea of adding crushed garlic.Skinnytaste is such a fantastic blog. It's my go to site when I need new ideas for low cal recipes. Haven't had a bad experience with any of the meals I've made and I've tried several!

This recipe made a huge casserole that made it through 2 dinners plus lunches for my husband and I, and it was SO delicious! I love that you don't have to cook the macaroni, saved so much time and one extra pot to scrub. Will definitely be adding this to my dinner rotation!

I just made this! Absolutely delicious! I didn't use mushrooms so I added more of the veggies. Also used fresh garlic and crushed red pepper flakes. I will Definitely make this again! Thanks for such a great recipe!

I made this a few nights ago and it came out great! I thought it would be disastrous because I didn't drain the canned tomatoes but that didn't matter! I added red pepper flakes, fresh garlic, and baby spinach. I def will make this again and it freezes well! Keep these recipes coming, Gina!

This was sooo yummy!! Definitely one to prep the night before or earlier in the day (didn't look closely enough at the recipe and was starting it before I realized it had to simmer for 20 min, bake for 1 hour, and then sit for 15 more min.) but worth it!

I'm in the process of making this now as a make-ahead meal (meat, veggies and sauce are all simmered) and I'm wondering if I can 'bake' everything in the crockpot? I know I've seen recipes elsewhere for meals with dried pasta in the crockpot, but I have no idea how that would work! Any ideas? Thanks for another great recipe Gina!!

I made this last night, and it was so so good! However, I was running short on time (hungry 2 year old) so I did cook the pasta before and then put in the oven for just 30 minutes so get all the flavors incorporated and melt the cheese, it was still so good. Even my Mom an anti veggie person really loved it!

Absolutely amazing recipe. It's in the oven right now and smells fabulous! Can't wait to eat. I love your blog and have tried 5 to 6 of the recipes already. Looking forward to trying more and have recommended your site to others as well as liked it on Facebook.

I made 3 batches of this last night (one for us and 2 for teachers at school for Thursday) Yummmy!! We are to take casseroles for 90 teachers and I thought some may like a healthier option. I loved the flavor. I do not recommend tripling the batch unless you have large stock pots. By the time all the liquid was in I had a big soup pot of the stuff and one of my girls didn't want to wait for the casserole to bake so she took a bowl as soup with no pasta!! Then she ate some of the casserole for breakfast. I decided it was better than no breakfast at all. Thanks for keeping us on a healthy track.

I love that you include carbohydrates in your recipes. My daughter was recently diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and this helps tremendously. Do you happen to remember how many carbs your homemade marinara contained? I'm using jarred but am trying to figure out how to adjust the carb counts without having to recalculate them all. Thanks!

I made this this week and the first night, my 2 picky babies (18 months and 4 years) gobbled it up and were groaning with delight! So incredibly TASTY!!!! I WILL be making this again! (They were not keen on leftovers thought, but I sure was!!!)

This is great. I love the sauce and will definitely make it again! The only thing I would do differently is either add the cheese in the last 10 mins or switch to whole milk (part skim was what I had). Thanks!!

This looks great and I'd like to do make it as a freeze ahead meal. To do so, would I stop after covering in foil and place it directly into the freezer or does it need to bake some before freezing? Thanks!

I hope this hasn't already been asked, but I've skimmed through the comments and can't see it, so here goes... Is the measurement for the cheese and pasta by weight or by volume? Also, what could you substitute for Marinara sauce, since I'm likely to have to buy it. Thanks! :)

I cooked the turkey, and then put everything else in a freezer bag (except for noodles and cheese) and froze it. Then a couple days before we were going to have it, I put it in the fridge to thaw. I brought the sauce to a boil and then simmered as the recipe says and followed directions from there. It was soooo good! I don't know that my kids have ever had that many veggies in one helping! AND they liked it! I recently came across Skinnytaste (about a few months ago) and am a die hard fan. I was out the day the cookbook was released buying it for me, my mom and mother-in-law! You make eating healthy so fun and SO GOOD! THANK YOU!

Hi Gina! I love all your recipes so much and tell everyone I know to visit your site! My husband loves everything I make from your site too, it makes eating healthy so tasty and easy! Thank you for all you do!

I want to make this meal for a family whose dad just passed away. I am wondering if I should cook the noodles before I bring it to them so they can choose to freeze it/wait to cook it, or if noodles will be ok uncooked if the meal isn't used right away? I guess just wondering what is the best way to make this meal ahead(/freeze), with cooked or uncooked noodles?

We had this dish and it was great - Thanks, Gina! Just wondering how necessary it is to saute the vegetables before putting it in the oven. Wouldn't the vegetables be cooked after being in the oven for 50 mins?

This recipe was just all right. I wanted to make it because of the time-saving and cleanup-lowering step of not having to boil the pasta beforehand; which totally worked! It also makes a ton, which is great for leftovers. I tweaked it a lot: 1) I seasoned with salt AND pepper at every step and added 2 T. of Italian seasoning after reading the comments about it being bland; 2) I cooked the onion with the turkey for added flavor and drained away the grease; and 3) I cooked the mushrooms with the celery and the carrots for added flavor. I didn't get the thick coating of cheese shown in the photos after using 1. c of mozzarella. If I make again, I will add at least 4 oz. more, which of course will increase the calories. And I will also reduce the water by 1/2 c. because even after overnight refrigeration, the casserole is somewhat loose and pieces don't come cleanly out of the pan. However, if I wanted to freeze this, I wouldn't reduce the liquid.

This is delicious! So cool that you don't have to cook the macaroni first. I also experimented and made this with eggplant instead of the carrots, mushrooms, and celery, just because I was in the mood for eggplant, and that worked very well too. I am so inspired by you, Gina!

I was recently introduced to your site on a message board I frequent. Since then, I've been bookmarking recipes like crazy. This was the first recipe I tried. The first of many!!!! GINA! You are doing it right here. You may have found a way to get me to eat celery and carrots. I omitted the meat, increased the amount of veggies, added garlic and cayenne pepper for a little kick. Amazing! I can't wait to try the rest of your recipes.

I made this tonight and it was delicious!! Even the boyfriend who would never choose ground turkey or whole grain pasta loved it. I used another commenter's suggestion and lined the pan with sliced zucchini first, and I also threw some crushed red pepper flakes in with the other seasonings. This will make for great leftovers, and I will definitely make it again!

I made this on last week for myself to eat throughout the week for lunch. Since it's we friendly, I knew I could have without feeling guilty. My husband tasted & really enjoyed it. He asked if I could make one for him with more meat. So I an making it today for him. Wonderful recipes, thanks Gina.